Minister Habeck presents industrial strategy – industrial policy in changed times

Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, today presented the Federal Economic Affairs Ministry’s new industrial strategy entitled ‘Industrial policy in changed times – safeguarding our industrial base, renewing our prosperity, boosting our economic security’.

Minister Habeck said: “We want to maintain Germany as a strong industrial centre in all its diversity. From the global corporation to the hidden Mittelstand champion and the small enterprise. From the energy-intensive basic materials industry to mechanical and automotive engineering, to space technology. If we wish to continue to be an economically successful country in the future, we must build on our biggest strength: our industry and thus our ability to develop and manufacture first-class products.

However, the significance of industry extends far beyond economic aspects. It makes an important contribution to the social cohesion of our society and also to its democratic stability. Industry is part of our country’s social and cultural identity; it is deeply engraved in the ways we work and live our lives. Safeguarding our industrial base is thus also an indispensable contribution to cohesion in our country.

Maintaining our industrial base also makes us safer. If we diversify supply chains and at the same time maintain existing and build new value creation in Germany and Europe, this will make us less dependent on autocracies in an increasingly uncertain world. To act responsibly, therefore, we must strengthen our economic security so that we are on the safe side.

The safeguarding of our industrial base requires a clear course: a strategic industrial policy. Our industrial strategy sets out the details of this policy."

Based on the key challenges facing German industry – the new geopolitical situation, the neglect of key factors affecting the business environment, the transformation towards climate neutrality – the strategy justifies the Federal Government’s industrial policy, breaks it down into in various fields of action, and identifies additional needs for action.

In particular, the strategy again points out the importance of a bridging electricity price for energy-intensive companies and emphasises the importance of a ‘Germany Pact’ (Deutschlandpakt) with the federal states to speed up planning and approval procedures.

You can find the strategy here (PDF, 6 MB).

You can find a short summary in English here (PDF, 244 KB).